Consumer products such as heavy duty liquid laundry detergent bottles are typically shipped in cases having multiple bottles per case. For example, a case of eight such bottles may be used. The case is typically made of corrugated paperboard. Within the manufacturing facility, the distribution warehouse, or other intermediate or final destinations, the cases are typically transported by stacking them onto a flat platform called a pallet and moving the pallet means of a forklift.
It is, of course, desirable that the cases not topple over while on the pallet, whether during transport on the forklift or when remaining stationary. One means of preventing such an event which has been employed includes the use of two three-piece structures, one at each side of the stack. The three pieces comprise two corrugated corner posts and a connecting piece of corrugated paperboard. When this arrangement is used, a corner post is present at each corner and the paperboard is present between the cornerposts on each side of the stack along the edge of the stack between the top of the stack and the side of the stack.
The three-piece items are awkward to use in that they require gluing the corner posts to the paperboard and result in an ungainly structure which has two long legs (the posts) connected by a relatively narrow intermediate piece.
McDowell U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,946 discloses a container for shipping sheets of glass or other fragile material. A front portion 16 including two end walls 17 and 18, a top panel 20 and end extension panels 22 and 23 is illustrated in FIG. 2.
Govang et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,270 discloses a pallet assembly for promotional display. In FIG. 8 a blank is disclosed having a rectangular panel 30 and end and side flaps 32 and 34. Also, end tabs 36 are disclosed.
Lawrence U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,593 discloses skeleton packs where the packs are grouped in pallet loads and have a rear member to take vertical load. FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate a support member having a base panel 3 and a vertical panel 4 and having flanges 5 on the vertical panel and 8 on the base panel.
Headon U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,981 discloses a stack display system including an enclosure 46 which wraps around layers of bottles and other packaging.
Lochmiller U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,609 discloses a pallet, end locking sections 17 and side locking members 20.
Bonnot U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,634 discloses a collapsible shipping container including a pair of U-shaped panels 42 and 44.
Greene et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,862 discloses end panels 24 in FIGS. 5 and 6.
Wetmore et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,100,046 discloses in FIG. 3 a sheet which may be folded to provide one half of a protective covering.